


Fry About It

by Denois



Series: Tumblr Fics and Prompt Fills [42]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Fluff, Jewish!Dex, Multi, Prompt Fill, minor or background Eric "Bitty" Bittle, this was supposed to be a little thing, very slight holiday angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:27:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28019241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Denois/pseuds/Denois
Summary: Dex didn’t mind making special Christmas foods for his friends when they asked nicely. Or for Nursey and Chowder just because he knew they'd like them. But he hadn't even had a chance to make latkes yet. It was weird to celebrate alone.The problem with love languages and polycules was that showing people you love them requires not just your love language, but theirs as well. And with a polycule, that means figuring out multiple different love languages. But Nursey figured C and Dex were worth it. If he thought about it long enough, really, doing something in their love language waskindof like giving them a gift....
Relationships: Chris "Chowder" Chow/Derek "Nursey" Nurse/William "Dex" Poindexter
Series: Tumblr Fics and Prompt Fills [42]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1693858
Comments: 13
Kudos: 75





	Fry About It

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TrippingOnStairs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrippingOnStairs/gifts).



> Much thanks to [Draskireis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/draskireis) for the beta read through and making me actually pay attention to words. Sometimes they look alike but are different.
> 
> Thanks to [Trippingonstairs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/trippingonstairs) for the prompt. It was supposed to just be a [short little prompt fill.](https://sexydexynurse.tumblr.com/post/636615870340284417/in-case-youre-considering-writing-cute-winter) what happened?
>
>> Winter prompt - Learning to make the other’s cultural holiday food (and if your so inclined, I think this’d be a cute polyfrogs prompt)

3:45 PM Sunday December 6, 2015

The alarm on Dex’s phone went off. He let it continue to beep for a moment as he slid another tray of cookies into the oven and dropped the pot holders onto the counter. Finally, his hands were free and he could shut it off. 

“Switch to the tree shape cutter, won’t you now, hon?” Bitty didn’t look up from where he was kneading another batch of dough.

“I’m done, Bitty. Night.”

He didn’t wait for a response. He knew that Bitty would try to talk him into staying and helping with “just one more” batch, and well, he was already going to be cutting it close to get back to his dorm. So, he just left the kitchen, grabbed his coat, and left the Haus. 

Fat, soft flakes were falling as he headed across the quad, and he picked his way carefully as he detoured around the Samwell Choir which was setting up by the large Christmas tree in the middle of the quad. They were dressed in Victorian-ish clothes for the caroling adventure and he wasn’t sure if he thought that was going to make it better or worse for them in the snow. Probably worse unless they were used to it.

Still, time was ticking past and he needed to hurry, so he didn’t linger. 

He tried not to be irritated as he fumbled with his key to his dorm and barely managed to get in before his phone beeped with another alarm. He hit the button to turn it off without looking and quickly pulled out a matchbox. He took one extra second to gather himself and take a deep breath. The candles were ready and he placed one in the place of the shammash and one on the right most holder. 

It was weird to sing the blessings alone. The year before Hanukkah had landed during winter break, so he could usually find at least one family member to celebrate with. 

He lit the shammash with a match, then waved the match to blow it out and dropped it into a glass of water to make sure it was fully out. Carefully lifting the shammash, he lit the other candle, then resettled it into its holder. 

Technically, he wasn’t supposed to have candles in the dorm. Technically, he didn’t care and had lit the hanukkiah in front of the window per tradition. Technically, he knew a lot of other students had Christmas decorations they weren’t supposed to have, also, and at least the Hanukkah candles burned down quickly. 

He dropped into his desk chair and watched them for a few minutes while ignoring the message tone from his phone indicating that Bitty was texting him. 

He didn’t mind helping with the Christmas baking spree, he just wished he’d been asked instead of told. He didn’t mind making special Christmas foods for his friends when they asked nicely. He probably wasn’t going to try a Bûche de Noël again for anyone but Nursey. Especially not one with the extra decorations and texturing. 

He didn’t even really mind the decorations and the caroling. Except that it was just everywhere. He had to wish people a Merry Christmas at his alumni relations work study. The Dean of Students had sent out an ecard wishing all the students a Merry Christmas. There was a university sponsored Christmas Market on campus. And there was no celebration of any other religious holidays at all. When he’d asked at the Hillel he’d gotten a lot of eye rolls and some sighs and an explanation that apparently, it was official Samwell policy that Christmas was not a religious holiday. 

Well, Dex refused to miss out on celebrating his own holiday because other people expected him to help them celebrate theirs. 

He let his head drop back over the top of his desk chair and stared at the ceiling. It was a load of crap really. He hadn’t even gotten to make latkes or do anything other than light a candle for first night. He’d be lucky if he even managed to get back to his dorm in time for the rest of the week. 

Finals during Hanukkah. Because of _course_.

The candles had nearly burned themselves out when there was a knock on the door. 

It wasn’t completely weird; it was still early. Sunset in December in Massachusetts was more late afternoon than evening and the candles were designed to burn out in a bit under an hour. But still, he wasn’t really expecting anyone. 

He just really hoped it wasn’t Bitty determined to drag him back to the Haus for more Christmas baking.

* * *

10:07 AM Sunday, December 6, 2015

Nursey and Chowder were nearly caught. It was Bitty who saved them, of all people. Neither of them had heard the Haus door open from the floor below and barely stopped out of sight in time when Bitty called out. 

“Oh Dex! Wonderful. You can help me with the gingerbread reindeer. Here, roll this batch out while I start the next.”

“Bitty, I-”

“I am so glad you showed up, hon. Santa must have been watching out for me and sent a little elf to help me. Well, you’re not so little. But, I tell you, I am just so far behind on these cookies! But you’re here now, so we’ll get this sorted out in no time.”

Nursey raised his eyebrows at Chowder who gave him a resolved look in return, mouth a firm straight line before slowly inching his way down the stairs, avoiding the squeaky ones and checking that the coast was clear. At his hand signal, Nursey followed, nearly as quietly. Not that it really mattered; Bitty was still talking and had a Destiny’s Child Christmas album playing on a loop so there was plenty of cover for their stealthy escape out the back door. 

They didn’t slow down or speak until they were three blocks away from the Haus, at which point Chowder grabbed his elbow as he slowed. 

“Hey, um, why was Dex at the Haus?”

Nursey frowned. “IDK. We both texted Frog Chat that we had stuff all day today.”

“Bitty didn’t sound like he expected to see him, so he probably didn’t ask him over, right? Was Dex going to surprise me?”

“Nah. He gets mad uncomfy if I suggest we wait in your room without explice permission. He wouldn’t go in without checking.”

“You guys don’t need permission to wait in my room.”

“I know, right? Poindexter.” Nursey shrugged to indicate that Dex being Dex was all there was to it. “Maybe he was going to visit Ransom.”

“Oh! Yeah, that makes sense.”

“Chill.” 

They started walking again. 

“Do you think that Murder will have everything we need?”

“Ch’yeah. I found a recipe.” Nursey pulled out his phone and opened the browser app to the recipe that he’d found. “It all seems pretty basic.”

“This says store-bought biscuit dough. That doesn’t seem right.”

“Chill, C. It also says it’s the easiest recipe. It’s perfect.”

Chowder handed back the phone and pulled out his own. “I’m going to look for a different recipe.”

“This one’s good. It’s exactly our skill level.”

“Do you think that Dex uses the ‘easiest’ recipe when he makes stuff for us?”

Nursey snorted. “No. But Dex is actually good at this shit and has experience. He’ll understand.”

“Dex made Tang Yuan for me and he doesn’t have experience at that.”

“I don’t know what that is.”

“Glutinous rice balls. For winter solstice. Which, it’s not, but he knows that. He said it was practice for Lantern Festival.”

“Oh. Chill.” 

“Yeah. And that bû-”

“No. It’s okay, C. I get it. If we are going to try to do something special for him, we should try to do it right.” 

“This recipe looks good. But, do you have a stand mixer in your suite?”

“Pssh. I don’t even have a pan. We’ll have to get all that.” 

“We’ll probably need to get a lyft back to campus.”

Nursey stopped and looked at Chowder. “If we’re not going to be able to get everything from Stop n Shop, maybe we should just get a lyft now.”

“Oh good. I’m freezing.”

* * *

1:27 PM Sunday, December 6, 2015

“Ok, now what?”

“I greased the large mixing bowl, so we put the sticky dough in here and cover it with a slightly damp tea towel for two hours.”

“Two hours?” Nursey looked at Chowder incredulously. “My recipe didn’t require waiting for two hours.”

He didn’t mention that it also hadn’t required yeast, a sifter, mixing for forever, or finding the bottle of good vodka that Shitty had given him as an early present.

“That’s because your recipe thought store-bought was fine.”

“Store-bought is fine. I could have-” He broke off and just watched while Chowder covered the dough in the greased bowl.

Yeah, he could have just bought the stuff. But the point was that Dex was always doing this kind of stuff for them. Acts of service. Why’d it have to be acts of service? 

“We’re not going to be done in time.”

“Well, you did take over an hour picking out a stand mixer.”

“Chill. I wanted to make sure it was one that Dex could use for other stuff.”

Chowder’s hands wrapped around his waist and he sighed as he relaxed into the hug. 

“I know. I helped look at reviews too. It’s a swawesome mixer.”

“It really is. Did you see how it handled that dough? Mad powerful.” 

“We should probably clean it.”

He let out another deep breath. “Ch’yeah. And then find something to do to pass the time.” 

“There’s always Netflix.” Chowder poked his side before darting to the other side of the little kitchenette to start helping with cleaning what they’d messed up so far.

* * *

“It says to flip them gently into the oil so that the puffy side is down.” 

Nursey looked at the oil in the pan and then at the spatula he was holding. He looked back at the pan of oil, then at Chowder. He held the spatula out. “I think you should probably do this part. You have better reflexes.”

After meeting his gaze for a few seconds, a change seemed to flow over Chowder as he set his jaw and shoulders and drew his eyebrows down. He took that spatula. “I got this. Little dough pucks. I can do it.”

“You got this. Ninety seconds each side or until golden brown, then on the wire rack. Four at a time. Three periods of play.” 

Chowder slowly turned his head back to look at Nursey again. “I’m not Jack. It doesn’t _all_ have to be a hockey metaphor.”

He leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to Chowder’s lips. “Sorry. Got carried away by the dough puck thing. You got this.”

And he did. The oil sizzled a lot as the dough plopped in, and it splashed a little on the first one before Chowder found the best angle to avoid that. It made Nursey jump, but Chowder didn’t even flinch. Then again, Chowder was used to having vulcanized rubber shot at his head, so a little oil probably wasn’t that worrisome. 

No one would claim they were perfect. They weren’t all evenly golden brown. One batch was noticeably darker than the others on one side where they hadn’t been flipped in time. But they all looked edible. They all looked good. 

Which meant all that was left was finishing up and taking them to Dex.

“Do you think Dex is still at the Haus?”

“Nah. It’s well past sundown.”

“Okay. But, Bitty had grabbed him to help with cookies, and you know how Bitty gets when he’s baking.”

Nursey raised an eyebrow at Chowder. “Let me rephrase, he better not be, because he would have wanted to be at his dorm by sundown.”

“Alright! Let’s try his dorm, and if he’s not there-”

“Then we’ll go liberate him and I’ll send Holster to explain the concept of religious microaggressions and the history behind Hanukkah.”

“Swawesome. In that case, what’s left?”

“Just the jelly and sugar.”

A few minutes later, the plate was arranged beautifully and the powdered sugar helpfully hid the fact that some were darker than others. It was perfect. It just had to stay that way until they got down to the floor with Dex’s dorm.

At 5:11, they knocked on Dex’s door. Well, Nursey did because Chowder was holding the plate. Less than a minute later, Dex opened the door, confusion writ large across his features.

“Hi Dex! Happy Hanukkah! We made you sufganiyot!” 

“You-” Dex’s eyes flicked from Nursey to Chowder to the plate in Chowder’s hands and back. “You made me sufganiyot? You had an exam review. And Nurse, you had a guest speaker seminar thing.”

“We, maybe, just a tiny bit, lied.” Nursey bit his lip. 

They weren’t supposed to lie to each other. It was a **rule**. But they’d wanted to surprise him, and that required some flexibility in the rules. 

Dex flung himself through the door at them. Luckily, both Nursey and Chowder reacted instinctively. Chowder spun artfully away to protect the plate of jelly doughnuts and Nursey slid into the space between them to absorb the full impact of Dex’s hug. It wasn’t like he minded being the sole recipient of a Dex hug.

It took more than a minute before Dex stopped squeezing him and let them into his room. 

“Thank you guys. Thank you so-. I didn’t think I’d get to eat anything fried today.” He huffed a laugh. “Unless I got fast food, which doesn’t _really_ count.” 

Chowder set the plate down near Dex’s menorah and then passed doughnuts to both Dex and Nursey before taking one for himself. “Sorry you didn’t get anything else, but we’re really happy to surprise you!”

“Ayuh. Thanks.” He smiled and took a bite.

It didn’t look like he wanted to spit it out or anything, so Nursey carefully tried a bite of his own. Honestly, they had done a pretty dece job, if he was any judge.

“Next time, just say you’re busy though. You don’t have to lie to me. I know it’s a rule and you shouldn’t feel like you have to break it on my account.”

“Pssh. Please.”

“We didn’t want you to think we were too busy for you, unless it was important.”

Nursey knocked his shoulder against Dex’s. “And making stuff for you is important.”

Dex finished his doughnut and looked down at his hands. “I’ve got two hands, but only one mouth. Serious design flaw.”

“You like them that much? You want to eat two at once?” 

“I want to kiss both my boyfriends.”

“Oh, chill. _That_ we can take care of, right C?” 

Nursey didn’t wait for a response from Chowder, just leaned in and pressed his lips to the side of Dex’s mouth, letting his own now empty hand fall to Dex’s thigh.

It wasn’t very late, they had hours to celebrate.


End file.
